George Tillman Jr. Signs On To Direct Miles Davis Biopic (Not The One Don Cheadle's Been Working On)

By
Tambay A. Obenson
|
Shadow and ActNovember 9, 2011 at 3:34PM

Oh-oh... this doesn't look good for Don Cheadle's long-in-development project, which he's been shopping around for financing for what seems like a really long time. 2 films based on Miles Davis' life might be seen as overkill, meaning only one of them may see the light of day.

Oh-oh... this doesn't look good for Don Cheadle's long-in-development project, which he's been shopping around for financing for what seems like a really long time. 2 films based on Miles Davis' life might be seen as overkill, meaning only one of them may see the light of day.

Of course, anything could happen; depends on where the money for each comes from.

From the press release:

Notorious helmer George Tillman, Jr. has been hired to develop and direct a feature film about legendary jazz musician Miles Davis, tentatively titled Miles. The late trumpeter's eldest son, Gregory Davis, will consult on the film.

This Miles Davis project will be loosely based on Gregory Davis' book Dark Magus: The Jekyll and Hyde Life of Miles Davis, and an adaptation to screenplay form has alraedy commenced.

“Our intention is to make a feature film that will appeal beyond the worldwide audience of Miles Davis die-hard fans, to also include those who don't know the first thing about the man, and introduce new ears to his music... In much the same way that Walk The Line and Ray were able to open the world's eyes to the life stories of Johnny Cash and Ray Charles, respectively, we want to make a film that will do the same justice for Miles Davis. Miles, in his fifty-year career as a musician, transcends time, space and race," said producer Nick Davis Raynes.

So... this sounds like a traditional birth-to-death telling of the jazzman's story, unlike Cheadle's which was to take a less *packaged* approach, and will focus on specific moments than on the man's entire life. Still, despite that difference, I can't help but wonder if this new announcement jinxes his own planned project a bit.

No word on when we can expect to see Tillman's Davis biopic, or if there's even any financing already in place. It could very well be another project we're wondering about in 3 years.